For more than a decade, Greening the Islands Foundation has worked alongside island governments, utilities and partners to accelerate the shift to renewable energy. We have advocated, convened, connected and inspired.
Today, we take a decisive next step.
Across the world, islands have made bold political commitments to decarbonisation and climate resilience. Targets are announced. Declarations are signed. Ambition is clear. Yet the real challenge lies elsewhere: implementation.
The gap between commitment and execution remains significant.
Contrary to common belief, the first barrier is not funding. Capital is increasingly available for well-structured projects. The real bottleneck is know-how: the ability to design coherent roadmaps, structure projects properly, align regulation, integrate technologies and manage complex transitions over time.
Capacity is the true starting point of any credible 100% renewable energy pathway.
Introducing the GTI Academy
In this context, the GTI Academy emerges as a natural evolution of our strategy. It is not a standalone initiative, nor a rebranding exercise. It is the operational strengthening of our long-term mission.
The Academy positions GTI beyond advocacy and networking. It formalises our role as a structured partner in technical empowerment and institutional capacity building for islands. It translates vision into methodology. It transforms ambition into structured action.
The Academy’s online workshop series follows the real lifecycle of an island energy transition: from strategic planning and technology choices to storage, market design, regulatory frameworks, resilience, digitalisation and the energy-water-waste nexus. Each session is modular, pragmatic and grounded in real-world case studies.
No theory for its own sake. No generic templates. Actionable frameworks tailored to island realities.
The First Step: Designing a 100% Renewable Roadmap
The first workshop sets the foundation: how to design a strategic 100% renewable energy roadmap.
This is where transitions succeed or fail.
A credible roadmap must balance ambition with security of supply. It must integrate variable renewables with storage strategies. It must align financial planning with regulatory reform. It must define milestones, KPIs and stakeholder responsibilities. And it must be robust enough to withstand political cycles and market fluctuations.
By starting with methodology, we address the core deficit that slows many islands: the absence of a coherent, structured pathway from vision to implementation.
Operationalising Our Flagship Initiatives
The Academy directly reinforces and operationalises our flagship programmes.
The 100% RES Islands Initiative provides the strategic framework to guide islands toward fully renewable systems. The 100×100 Campaign mobilises political commitment, encouraging 100 islands to commit to 100% renewables.
The Academy now closes the loop.
Islands that commit politically can immediately access a structured capacity-building pathway. From commitment to roadmap. From roadmap to implementation. From aspiration to measurable progress.
This creates a coherent continuum: Commit → Design → Structure → Deliver.
A Shift in GTI’s Role
This step also marks an important evolution for GTI itself.
We are not moving away from our identity. We are deepening it. The Academy strengthens our institutional credibility and technical depth within the global island community. It positions GTI as a long-term implementation partner, not only a platform for dialogue.
Energy transition is complex. It requires engineering, economics, governance and social inclusion to move in sync. Islands cannot outsource this entirely. They must build internal capacity.
That is the purpose of the Academy.
If the last decade was about raising ambition, the next must be about delivering results. Structured knowledge is the bridge between the two.
The energy transition on islands will not be won by declarations alone. It will be won by institutions that know how to design, structure and execute.
With the GTI Academy, we move decisively into that space.
We are looking forward to welcoming you on March 26th for the first session!
